Hey guys, Today was quite wild and did not go as planned. I woke up and the Hives I got had spear down my legs, on my arms, and covered my face. My face was super-hot and stiff while my ears were bright red and itchy. They took me back to the nurse’s station after breakfast to see if there was anything else they could for me. They gave me another allergy pill and this nurse took pictures of my legs to send to the doctor just incase it got worse. I headed back to class to work on our research project. My partner and I decided to do a project comparing fish abundancy and diversity on coral patches closer to shore compared to patches farther from shore. We decided our methods when the research station admin came to the lab to tell me the nurse wanted to see me again. Apparently, the doctor called and said to give me a steroid to help with the swelling. I have to say it has helped a lot! The hives have gotten much better. They think I am either allergic to the laundry detergent or the solution they used to clean the wetsuits. My wetsuit is currently soaking in a tub of water to try to get the detergent out and we are washing my sheets without detergent to see if that helps. After I got back from the nurse’s station we had lunch and then headed to our lecture on reef mega fauna. I really enjoyed learning how sharks and rays use electrical pulse sensors to hunt their pray. We also learned that whales come to the reefs to give birth since the babies are born with out blubber and would not be able to survive the polar waters right away. It was very interesting and really got me excited to continue learning about marine life and ecosystems. After lecture My partner and I started the collection process of our data. We suited up and swam 120 fin kicks out. Then we chose five large coral patches which we then recorded and measured. Once we finished those five we swam 60 fin kicks back and chose five more to record and measure. We went back to the lab to take a look at the footage we got. I am a terrible videographer when it comes to the go pro, but we were still able to get some good counts in. we finished going over the videos we have and plan to do more tomorrow so that we have a good data pool. Once we finished we headed to afternoon tea and ate a ton of fruit! I wish America did morning and afternoon teas. They are so good. Now we are all just chilling and those whose projects are done at low tide are out in the water. I cannot wait to see what tomorrow holds I just hope it involves less hives and more sea creatures.
Till tomorrow Taylor
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AuthorTaylor is currently a senior at Utah State University studying environmental studies and biology. Taylor has always loved the ocean and plans to attend Western Washington University for a masters in marine ecology. Taylor first found a love for marine science as a child growing up in the Pacific North West. ArchivesCategories |